Page 19 of Rough Stock
Jensen couldn’t believe it. “Why would you think that?”
“Because I was in prison, remember?”
Jensen just grinned. “You gonna tell ’em? Because I’m sure not. That’s on a need-to-know basis, and they don’t need to know.”
“So you’re going to lie?” she asked, head tipped and voice flippant.
“No. It’s not the sin of commission?it’s the sin of omission. Why tell them something like that? Now, if we’re having dinner and my mother says, ‘By the way, Shyanna, have you ever done time?’ then don’t lie to her. Just tell her,” he said and started to laugh.
“Don’t be so sarcastic about this. I’m being serious,” she said.
Jensen tamped down his laughter. “So am I. If she asks, we’ll tell her. Otherwise, we won’t. Deal?” He could tell she wanted to say yes. “Come on. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Oh, you don’t want to know,” she said, and something told him she was right.
At first she thought Jensen might be showing a little competitiveness. They both put the location in their navigation units, and part of the time it seemed he was trying to beat her there. But after a while, she realized he was just driving and paying her no attention at all. She had, however, asked him to let her know if he was pulling off somewhere and she’d do the same for him. Gentleman that he was, he’d done that twice, and both times were a good break for her.
It was a long drive, over twelve hours if they took only bathroom and snack breaks, so they’d decided they’d stop at a state park near Jackson, Mississippi, that had a wrangler’s camp. It was about halfway to their destination in SouthCarolina and with their trailers, they had somewhere to stay. Shyanna wondered if Jensen had already called his buddy at the school. She hoped he had, because the idea of spendingthe entire two weeks stuck at the house with his family scared the hell out of her.
They walked to the bathhouse together, then went back to their own trailers to dress. By the time Shyanna got to Jensen’s trailer, she stepped inside to find him snoring loudly, so she slipped into the other side of the tiny bed and curled up, her back toward him. It took him all of ten seconds to scoot over and wrap his arms around her to spoon, and Shyanna wanted to stay like that forever. Being that close to Jensen, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers and his breath tickling the back of her neck as he slept, was something she couldn’t get enough of. It was heaven?hewas heaven.
She’d been at the park’s stables for thirty minutes, tending to the horses, when Jensen wandered in. “You’re up early for somebody who’s on vacation,” he drawled, half from his southern upbringing and the other half from his still-sleepy state.
Shyanna laughed. “Somebody’s gotta take care of them! I figured I’d let you sleep.”
As she stood brushing Cobra, he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I missed you when I woke up.”
“I was with you all night,” she said with a chuckle.
“I know.”
“How could you possibly know?” she asked, her tone snarky. “You were sound asleep!”
“I knew. You’re warm and soft. I couldn’t miss the fact that you were in my arms.” The kiss he dropped on the side of her neck left a tingling spot on her skin.
“Want to load their stuff up while I finish brushing them down?” she asked, never missing a stroke.
“Will do, boss,” he said with a snicker, and Shyanna had to laugh too. She’d been the no-nonsense girl for so long thatbeing the least bit playful or silly didn’t come easily to her. Even laughing was kind of new. She hadn’t had anything to smile or laugh about in a very long time.
When the horses were walked, watered, and loaded up, they checked out of the camp and headed toward SouthCarolina. Before she knew it, they were rolling though Atlanta.Won’t be long now, she thought as she reached for the radio knob to fill the cab of the truck with music designed to keep her mind off their destination.Why did I agree to this?she asked herself. But she knew the answer.
She wanted to learn to ride in the bronc and bull events. She wasn’t sure she would’ve agreed to go to SouthCarolina with him otherwise. That was her goal, and if he was willing to help her reach it, she’d let him. He was meeting his, after all, so he had to know what he was doing. Who better to teach her?
They ate lunch just east of Atlanta in a little Georgia town and then hit the road again. Shyanna had begun to believe they were never going to get there when she saw a sign on the side of the highway: thirty miles to Forrestville, SouthCarolina. Thirty miles and she’d be meeting his family. Thirty miles to another group of people who’d reject her just like all the others. It would be great if they were as nice as Jensen. After all, he had to have learned it somewhere, right? But parents had a funny way of not liking it when their kids hung out with convicted felons. She certainly hoped that never came up.
But instead of pulling up to a family home, she followed Jensen as he turned first one corner and then another, winding his way through rural roads. He flipped his blinker on just as they drove up a hill, and she wondered where they were going. They crested it and when they made it to the bottom, there it was?a sign for the university’s farm. That was just like him. He wanted to make sure the horses were taken care of first, and Shyanna totally respected that.
A big empty gravel parking area greeted them and as soon as they stopped, Jensen jumped out. “Be right back,” he told her as she put her window down. Instead of waiting for him, Shyanna opened the door, stepped out, and looked around.
There was a nice arena there with plenty of bleacher space. Off to the right were three barns, and she knew at least one of them had horses in it?she could hear them calling back and forth to each other. It was a sure bet one of them had cattle in it, or was at least designated for them. Between the facility and the road they’d come in on was a large field, and half a dozen horses grazed there. Farther out and away from the barns were at least two dozen head of cattle, and from where she stood, they looked like Herefords. Shyanna watched as people walked back and forth, and she assumed they were students. She’d turned to look in the other direction at the equipment sheds when she heard a voice say, “Hey! Stretching?”
When she spun, she was surprised to see Jensen striding toward her with another man beside him. “Yeah. Got a little stiff in there. Hope that was okay,” she answered.
The other man held out a hand. “RogerPotter. I’m in charge of the equestrian barns and the students who come into them. ShyannaOwens, right?” She took his hand and nodded, and the handshake he gave her was firm and friendly. “Pleasure to have you here.”
She nodded politely. “Thanks for having me.”
“The big guy here tells me you want to practice some bull riding and bronc busting while you’re here,” Roger said, and Shyanna nodded. “We usually don’t allow it but, I mean, it’s Jensen asking. I can’t say no!” he said and laughed.
